From the Country Star

Okies get down and dirty

By Bob Rosenburgh, Staff Writer

July 16 — When you think of drag racing, the first thing that comes to mind is a quarter-mile strip of perfect blacktop and shiny hotrods with big racing slick tires.

But there’s another kind of drag racing, an outlaw breed of no-holds-barred hot rodders who’d rather dig into the dirt than lay a strip of rubber and, on Saturday, they got together to rip into some ground.

These trucks were set up with modified four-wheel-drive, huge off-road traction tires all the way around, massively powerful souped-up engines and jacked-up, stiffened suspension and frames. Some of them may have arrived nice and shiny, but they all went home covered in dirt, mud and a back-slapping, hoot-n-hollerin’ kind of backwoods glory.

It was the Sixth annual Okie Dirt Drags, held every year at a track just off Texanna Road, seven miles east of U.S. Highway 69, and hosted by Tubby McDonald of T. McDonald Construction.

McDonald has been racing since 1989. These unique and exciting races feature five categories, including pure street, street stock, modified stock, superstock and pro stock. It’s side-by-side drag racing in the dirt, and a crowd of more than 200 spectators showed up with lawn chairs, ice chests and shade canopies to endure the 101 degree heat for a taste of the excitement.

Anyone with a truck was welcome to sign up and race, as were those who had built race trucks designed just for the dirt and mud. Registration began at 10 a.m., ended at noon and the races kicked off at 1 p.m. Drivers came to the Dirt Drags, called the Mud Drags in past years, for various reasons, but mostly just for fun.

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